Thundercat

Thundercat is a monster on bass. A virtuoso. A phenom. His stupendously nimble playing is akin to a jazz player's, and that influence is felt on his debut album, The Golden Age of Apocalypse, co-produced by Flying Lotus and out now on Brainfeeder. But, like FlyLo's brilliantly spaced-out 2010 LP Cosmogramma (which featured Thundercat on several tracks), Apocalypse updates the 1970s jazz fusion of Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers with a modern sheen. The music resides somewhere between Stevie Wonder and Sun Ra, its open optimism made slippery by the undulating arrangements and Thundercat's always-on-the-move fretwork and humbly soothing singing voice.

Born Stephen Bruner, the bassist grew up in a household where music was a given. His dad, Ronald Bruner, Sr., played drums with Diana Ross, the Temptations, and Gladys Knight, and his brother, Ronald Bruner, Jr., is a Grammy-winning stickman who's worked with jazz heavies including Roy Hargrove, Stanley Clarke, and Wayne Shorter. While still in high school, Stephen joined his brother as a member of West Coast punk vets Suicidal Tendencies. In the following years, he toured the world and worked with an impressive list of stars from soul legend Leon Ware to Erykah Badu to Snoop Dogg.

Now 25, he's ready to release his first big solo statement after being in the background for years. Is he nervous? "Heck yeah!" says Thundercat with a laugh. "But being around Flying Lotus, Erykah, Suicidal Tendencies, and having a brother that’s as great as he is helped me to understand what it means to have your own voice." We recently spoke with the man about his gender-bending teens, getting called-out by Snoop Dogg in front of a live audience, and, naturally, muscular cartoon felines.

"Everybody in my family had something weird about them, like, 'What's wrong with you?!' We all were black sheep."

Pitchfork: Do you remember your first bass?

Thundercat: Yeah, it was this little black Harmony. But when it stopped working, I traded it for a Super Nintendo. Then, a friend of my dad’s dropped this weird, tore up bass on our porch. Later on, my dad was rehearsing with Michael Henderson-- who played bass on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew-- and he looked at my bass and said, “Man, this is my old bass.” It was a moment that I’d never forget-- I wound up with Michael Henderson’s old bass.

Pitchfork: Your album is a little spacier than the music your father and brother are known for. Are you like the musical black sheep of the family?

T: [laughs] Wow. I’ve never been called the black sheep. Everybody in my family had something weird about them, like, "What's wrong with you?!" We all were black sheep.

I was the black sheep in school, though. I actually went to an arts middle school with Shia LaBeouf, but even there I was one of the weirder kids. At the start of high school, I looked like a girl... to a very major degree. I had really long hair and a really round face with no facial hair. And I went to a very rough high school. The first day of school, this gangbanger-- who I eventually became friends with-- was like, “Man, I thought you was a straight bitch.” This was in front of everybody. And I was like, “Nah, I’m not a woman.” It could’ve been a scene in Superbad or something.

Pitchfork: Where was your high school?

T: I went to Locke High School in Watts towards the end of the super gangbanging era. I saw one of my friends murdered at the school, all kinds of crazy shit. It was just part of the environment. Some of my closest friends were gangbangers.

Pitchfork: Have you ever worked with somebody who wanted you to tone your playing down?

T: That happened one time. I was playing live with Snoop Dogg, and he gave us solos one day during a show. So I started playing, and he was like, “Man, you have to play all them notes?” He called it out stage: “You ain’t gotta do all that, man!” I was like, “But you gave me a solo!” [laughs] I was confused.

"In high school, I saw one of my friends murdered at the school, all kinds of crazy shit. It was just part of the environment."

Pitchfork: When did you first meet Flying Lotus?

T: At South by Southwest a few years back-- it was like Jay and Silent Bob meeting for the first time. From then, it was magic. Musically, he's the person I've bonded with most other than my brother. Raphael Saadiq asked me and my brother one time, like, “How are you guys not looking at each other at all while you're playing?” But I've known this guy my whole life; I know exactly what he’s going to do.